"And so 1 would like to ask how many "scientists" are there still nowadays who in dark; foggy autumn nights walk around out there in forests and swamps? On their desks or in a show case in a museum, a jack-o'-1antern of course, cannot be observed. Kurt Floericke: Lights in the forest at night, Kosmos 5, Page 270-271, 1908 (Nächtliche Waldbeleuchtunq)"

A jack-o`-lantern is a little flame coming up from the ground which mainly forms on swampy meadows and moorlands. The flames are visible just for a few seconds and are between 1 and 11 cm tall. They are caused by gas that rises in the ground and alights in the air by itself. The gas probably is a mixture of PH3 and. H2S that burns without emitting any smoke or smell. Many people think that jack-o'-lanterns wander about the swamps. But probably this is not true. The reason for this impression probably is that one jack-o'-lantern extinguishes at one place while same steps away another one forms. This can give the impression of a moving light.

For a long time scientists thought that jack-o'-lanterns were nothing more than a whim or mistaken other light-emitting phenomena as, for example, St.-Elmo's fire or glow-worms. Only when respected persons described it they began to believe that it really existed. Especially an observation made by the excellent astronomer Bessel in the morning of December 2, 1807, at Lilienthal near Bremen contributed to this. He saw jack-o'-lanterns in complete darkness and rainy weather on a dug-out swamp site, the holes in which had filled with water. There were a lot of slightly bluish little flames. Their light was faint, so that they did. not illuminate the ground. The jack-o'-lanterns were visible for about 15 seconds each and the distance between them was about 15 to 20 steps. Most of them did not move, but others, in most cases arranged in groups, moved horizontally. Another observation was made by the physicist Knorr, who saw jack-o'-lanterns which were about 10 cm tall and 3 cm wide near Herzberg a.d. Elster. When he held the brass fitting of his walking-stick against a jack-o'-lantern, it did not get warm. Contrary to this are other observations according to which a jack-o'-lantern was able to light a piece of dry cane or even dry grass.

More observations of jack-o´-lanterns are listed up in the “Naturkundliche
Chronik Nordwestdeutschlande“ (Scientific
Chronicle of Northwest Germany) by Dr.F. Hamm.

In about 1700, little shining flames that hopped around were observed on
a meadow on the Alter Rodenberge near Schaumburg.

Between 1850 and 1855 jack-o´-lanterns were a frequent phenomenon
near Stuckhausen (Oldenburg).

In about 1870, jack-o-lanterns were seen on the very swampy mill- p pond
at Sülze near Celle. These, however, have not appeared any m more since
the pond was cleaned.

Another observation was made on Sepbember 2, 1882, at the banks of the Geestekanal
and the river Weser. In deep darkness and sultry weather numerous yellow flames
were observed which were about as large as a match.

In 1885, jack-o‘-lanterns which had been rather frequent up to then,
were observed for the last time on a swampy meadow near Vegesack.

By the end of the l9th century, flickering jack-o´-lanterns were observed
at the Spellschen—Dohse near Lingen.

On Easter Sunday, 1901, jack-o‘-lanterns could be seen at the Bremer
Blockland over swampy bays of the Wümme River after a period of warm
weather.

In October, 1903, a blue jack-o´-lantern was seen in Hänigsen
at midnight.

The German word “Irrlicht” (light that goes astray) probably means
that these lights seem to jump around and to wander about, that they go astray
without having any aim. But there is also another possible explanation. People
can get lost by these lights. Nowadays each road is well built, there are road
signs and street lamps so that there is no danger to lose the way. But 200 years
ago, travelling to the neighboured village at night and under a moonless sky could
be dangerous. People who thought to see an illuminated house or a person with
a lantern (~jack-o‘-lantern) and walked towards the light, could easily
lose their way and get into those swampy areas where jack-o´-lanterns mainly
form.

In myths, jack-o´-lanterns were thought to be the souls of children
who had died without having been baptized. This may be due to the fact that
jack-o´-lanterns have often been observed on cemeteries. But jack-o´lanterns
are also believed to have some positive properties. A jack-o´-lantern
on the left is said to be a good sign. It is also told that they come flying
to you when you call them and shine for you if you give them some money. Weather
-wise farmers say that, if there are many jack-o‘-lanterns in the swamps,
the weather will stay fine for a longer period of time.

Nowadays people do not know more about jack-o´-lanterns than they did
a hundred years ago. Just very few new observations have been made. I do not
know about any photographs or videos. So 1 would like to appeal to observing
jack-o´-lanterns exactly. Perhaps this is a way to find an answer to the
following questions:

Where do jack-o‘-lanterns appear nowadays?

What colour are they?

What temperature does the flame have?

What gas do they consist of?

Under what weather conditions and in which seasons do jack-o´-lanterns
appear?

How often do they appear?

Can jack-o´-lanterns move about larger distances?

Do jack-o‘-lanterns always appear in groups?

How long are they visible?

How bright are they?

Is there any sound to be heard when they appear?

These are lust a few of the questions that have not been answered up to now. If
you have ever seen a jack-o´-lantern, 1 should be grateful if you sent me
a report on that observation. If you are so lucky to see a jack-o´-lantern
in future, you should observe it exactly. Of course it would be ideal if you had
some photographs or a video of a jack-o´-lantern. During the last century,
jack-o´-lanterns were mainly observed in swampy areas. Nowadays most swamps
have been damaged by peat-cutting. But even in these swamps the formation of jack-o´-lanterns
is possible. In a night in the early summer of 1997, I saw a quite great number
of lights on such a swamp near Vechta which probably were jack-o´-lanterns.
Several hundreds of metres away, a great number of white lights blinked up in
the swamp in irregular intervals. Each blink lasted about 4 to 10 seconds and
was about as bright as the planet Venus. The phenomenon lasted about one hour.
Unfortunately I was not able to get closer to the lights because the swamp was
inaccessible. But I cannot completely exclude the possibi1ity that those lights
actually were torches, although it is very improbable that a large group of persons
stayed in the swamp at night. But it might have been a military exercise, just
as some helicopters passed the area.

Jack-o´-lanterns have not only been observed on swamps but also on swampy
meadows, along embankments, on recently fertilized soil, muddy ditches, sewage
canals and on cemeteries. In winter they seem to appear less frequently. In
summer and in rainy and mild autumn nights, however, they seem to appear more
often. According to other reports, jack-o´-lanterns appear more frequently
in autumn and Advent, but also in late summer and Lent. Dull weather and sultriness
seem to be good preconditions for jack-o‘-lanterns to form. There have
been described very different colours of jack-o‘-lanterns. Some people
described them as yellowish, others as reddish, while some saw bluish ones.

A report on an observation of jack-o‘-lanterns should contain the following
statements:

Name, place of observation, time and date

Weather conditions

Did you see the jack-o‘-lanterns in the distance or did

they appear right in front of you?

How long did each light shine?

How long did the whole phenomenon last?

Colour, size and number of the jack-o´-lanterns

Their height above the ground

State of the soil

Did the jack-o´-lanterns move?

Could you hear any sound?

Did you notice any unusual smell?

If the jack-o´-lanterns did appear right in front of you, you should try
to kindle tinder in the flame. Perhaps you can also take a photograph. You should
send your report as an e-mail to Mark Vornhusen.
And perhaps you know somebody who remembers having seen jack-o‘-lanterns.

Bibliography on Jack-o‘-lanterns

Minnaert, Marcel: Light and Colour in the Open Air, § 273, published
by Birkhäuser, 1992